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Wednesday, April 03, 2013

A Rock and a Dry Place

The only rocks here in reality are ones that I have been given, three by a friend who bought too many for his garden (how is that possible? asks the rock lover who has never had to plant around buried rocks) and some smaller ones that were being given away by someone in the midst of a garden redesign.

But the dry place is becoming more obvious as March becomes April and we are far behind on our rainfall for the year, all of which usually arrives by the beginning of May or so. After that any rain, until about November, is inconsequential and does little more than wash the dust off leaves and garden benches. The dry place is here...and it is scary.

I have over several years worked to make my garden less water dependent. The lawn is minimal. There is none in the front and the back has been whittled away until even part of the play area is covered with mini-bark chips and there is just a little lawn.

So what is a gardener to do when a garden that has evolved over 33 years needs to become even more water-wise? The plan I settled on is to begin with one path and switch the plants along it to native plants and others that need very little summer water. That area will eventually need watering about 1/4 as often as it does now. It is at least a start. And I can't help but think that anything that results in a trip to Annie's Annuals must be a good idea.

You are wise -- if we can't control the weather, we must change what we can control, what we choose to plant. I dread drought more than any other weather phenomenon, even bitter cold. I hope you get some rain soon.